Australian HCP market sees spike in inkjets
October 7, 2020
Working from home brought both challenges and opportunities to the Australian print market, according to latest data from IDC.
The Australian hardcopy peripherals (HCP) shipment recorded 810,000 million units in the first half of 2020, according to the latest IDC Asia Pacific Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker. The market size was 3.7% less year-on-year (YoY), primarily driven by the weaker demand from corporates during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Despite the downturn in the laser single-function market category (-20% units YoY), both inkjet and laser multifunction devices (MFDs) benefited from the demand growth from home-users and reported almost flat YoY performance, against the declining trend in previous years.
“Consumer-targeted products increased in sales because of remote working and distance learning, predominantly through large local retailers whose stores remained open during the restrictions,” said Jimmy Li, Market Analyst at IDC.
From the products’ perspective, inkjet models within US$100-$300 (€85-€255) price band experienced a spike in demand from the home-based working environment, thanks to the panic buy around March and April. In contrast, key laser vendors reduced the shipment volume of low-end laser devices with a print speed of less than 20 ppm gradually. Both inkjet and laser markets suffered from a certain level of stock and logistic issues due to the COVID-outbreak in the Asia Pacific regions.
“The business world is heading towards ‘the next normal’, a comprehensive hybrid working model with possible lower reliance on print,” said Jimmy Li. “However, the requirement of day-to-day location independent processes also brings opportunities to the market. Vendors and channels can no longer rely on hardware and consumable sales alone but need to focus on and expand their offerings into cloud services, security control, and solution-based approach across offices and home locations.”
Categories : Around the Industry
Tags : HCP IDC Inkjet Market Research
